Harry Potter

I went to see the final Harry Potter film this past weekend along with millions of other viewers.  I hate that I couldn't go opening day (the forces of exhaustion were against us), but at least I made it for opening weekend.  There have been many many reviews and raves about this movie and I am with them, mostly.

This is probably the only book (series) I truly really loved that I would see on the big screen.  For one, it's kind of hard to ignore all these movies and commercialization of the franchise.  But more than that, they were really working with the author for how how the movies should take shape.  This is not to say I haven't been disappointed in the choices they have made along the way, but I respect that the author at least approves of the substitutes and the vision of her story.

I can remember the very first movie when it came out.  I went to see it with Andrea and Tyler in between the finals at RIT.  It was November 2001, almost 10 years ago.  We were there for the 11am showing (the first one of the day, no midnight showings for the first one in our area).  We were there with bus loads of kids from the area schools, but it was magic on the screen.  I remember just being entranced by the movie and hoping there would be many more to follow.  My wishes were granted.

My love of Harry Potter started the year before at Christmas when I participated in a White Elephant exchange where someone brought the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for the exchange.  It went around like hot cakes and everyone was fighting over it.  I didn't end up with it, but I said, I need to get a copy.  That year, I took my bookstore gift card from my grandfather and went and picked up a copy.  I ate it up and wanted more.  I read all the way through the fourth book and was really disappointed when the fifth book was going to be a two year wait (from when I started reading)!  But that's ok, the movie would fill the void.

That summer, 2001, was when I think Harry Potter went big time.  The fourth book had gained quite a lot of momentum on it's own with the message from JK Rowling that one of the characters died, but then they were making a movie to be released in the fall about the first book.  Everyone wanted to know, well if this is a 7 book series, will they have a movie for them all?!  And the answer now is obviously yes.  As the books came out and they got longer, it was harder to condense it to the normal 2ish hour movie, but they did well.  The fourth book (first in the larger book sizes) was the first where I noticed the cuts they made.  Sure they can't really take up screen time to show how Hermonie made scarves to free the elves, but it would have been "nice".

Well here we are at the final Harry Potter film.  As I watched the story unfold in front of me on the big screen I couldn't help but feel a little sad.  I mean, after all, this had captured my attention for 10 years.  I have re-read the series more times than I care to admit (all books have been read at least 4 times, some more) and I have started the holiday tradition of watching the movies while I decorate for the holidays (as the first movies came out in the fall).  There were a lot of emotional parts to the movie and I will admit, I cried my eyes out when he went into the Dark Forest.  It really captured the emotions that I had when I read the book, but they didn't follow the story as well as they had in other movies.

I will tell you that I did re-read the last Harry Potter Book before going to see this movie.  This may have been a mistake, however, even if I had not done so, there are things I would have noticed anyway.  I understand most of the reasoning from a cinematic perspective, but that doesn't mean I agree with it.  I wish they had shown the events from when the enter the Room of Requirement until the end more true to the story as it was written.  There were a lot of "shortcuts" taken, which again I understand, but did not care for.  The way they get to the Gray Lady, how they handle the students in the castle, where Snape dies, the Kings Crossing scene (they leave a LOT of back story out, but they never explained it before either, so it made no sense to add it in now), the duel between Molly and Bellatrix, and the final scene with Harry and Voldermort.  I will always like the books better (as in any series), but I am still pleased with the movie representation of the book.

And so the ending is bittersweet, but the characters will continue to live in the books and in the movies.  I only hope that someday when I have kids, they will still enjoy the stories just as much as I continue to do.

Harry Potter

I first heard about Harry Potter in college in a White Elephant gift exchange.  The first book was part of the exchange and was the most passed around item.  I did not end up with the book as my final prize, but I said to myself, "I think I need to go read that".  So after Christmas I went to the book store with my gift card and bought myself a copy.  It was love at first read.

Now some 10 years later I am still eager to get the DVD on the first day out.  Since the release of Year 7, Part 1 did not come around the holidays, I went and bought it and plan to watch it later tonight.  I just love the story and the way it's told.  This is probably the one and only set of books I am really glad they turned into a movie.  They have just done a stellar job with the movies and all the special effects.  Of course, ask me this in another 10 years and I will say it will probably look like the 80s special effects to now, obvious and shoty.  :)  Although I hope not.

I am anxiously awaiting the final movie and the epic battles and just awesomeness.  I can't decide if I will read all the books again or watch all the DVD's again before the last installment.  I typically have re-read the entire series of books through to the one of the movie, watched the movie and then re-read the remaining books.  Who knows maybe I will do both?  I guess it depends on how much free time I really have with the new house and all.  Well, I will need some downtime.  :)

Netflix & XBox

Normally I don't enjoy writing about technical stuff. I get enough of that at work. However, I am going to make an exception because I am really impressed.

My normal take on the latest and greatest in technology is, what exactly does it do to make it worth that much? Or I seem to have gotten along fine without it so far. Or how complicated is this to learn/set up and do I want to be bothered with it? Most of the time I say forget it. I wouldn't call label myself as resistant to change, more like lazy to change. :P

Rob received an XBox 360 for his birthday last year which he was no doubt totally excited and pleased to get. Thanks to all of you that pitched in for it. I mostly smile and nod when he tells me about the cool things he has to ability to do with this machine. I think I tried to use the headset a few weeks ago, I didn't know what I was doing and accidentally invited Bruce to a party of nothing, all he heard was me swearing, and then I exited as if I hadn't done anything. That about sums up the way I approach new fangled things.

We have been subscribed to Netflix for over a year now. I am a fan of using this service. I get to watch a lot of cool stuff and they are super quick. We have the projector and sound system so I really prefer to watch most movies at home. I can get a beer, it's quiet, and if I fall asleep, I can rewind. Of course when Rob forgets to change what movie is coming if it's one of "his" movies and he then isn't able to watch it for a week, it doesn't thrill me but I just do other things instead. :P So when Netflix and Xbox combined I was a little leary of this mix, but kind of interested all at the same time.

Because we have the unlimited one out at a time, we have access to movies and TV shows through XBox. The selection is not huge, but I am pleased with it. For instance, CSI is available to watch 1-2 days after it's been aired which is nice when my school group wants to have a meeting when it's on TV. *enter grumbles here* I know I can watch it over the weekend and it's almost better because there are no commercials. Not all shows are available, but CSI is and that counts for a lot in my book.

The other neat feature with the instant downloads is you can add workout videos to your queue. So you can change up your workouts and not have to pay for the DVDs (or gym memberships) which is really nice. Of course, I have yet to actually do a workout from there, but they are in the queue. That's the first step.

So if I can figure out how to turn on the XBox and sign into Xbox live, I 'll be good to go!

Oldies But Goodies

Sometimes I wonder how I got to this point in my life without have done some of the most popular pop culture things. Mostly I am referring to watching the classic movies from the 80s and 90s. I don't know how I managed to avoid seeing them all this time, but the important thing to note is; I am trying to catch up.

My first or second beach week trip I finally watched all of the Star Wars movies. Yes, that would be about 2005 or 2006. I was missing the original three. I have seen Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Office Space so I think I am ok there. I am still unclear if I have seen all of the Back to the Future movies. I think I keep seeing the same one with the clock tower, but hard to say for sure.

Last night I had a craving for mac & cheese, beer, and popcorn. Rob made himself some pizzas and joined me on the couch to watch a movie. I ended up picking out My Cousin Vinny. I have never seen this movie either. It was hilarious! I especially liked Marisa Tome's character. She's sassy! :)

Someday I will be caught up with movies, but until then, I guess I will just add them to the ever growing list of things I should do. At least I will have something to do when I retire! :P